Hidalgo County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk

What Hidalgo County, TX's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Hidalgo County, TX's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.37% across 78.9% of the county's surveyed land. A real but modest amount of movement - standard foundations usually hold up, but drainage and moisture control around the foundation still matter more than on low-risk soil.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Hidalgo County, TX at once, not any single address. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Hidalgo County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Hidalgo County, TX rating "Moderate", a geotechnical report is still worthwhile before a build, just less urgent than in a high-risk county. A geotechnical report runs $1,000-$5,000, typically around $2,700. Foundation repair, if a specific lot turns out to differ from the county average, runs $5,000-$15,000.

How Hidalgo County, TX compares

Nationally, Hidalgo County, TX is the 927-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 168 of 253. Hidalgo County covers 1,571 square miles and counts 914,820 residents.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Noble County, OH and Calaveras County, CA are worth a look for comparison.

How this reading is built, and its real limits · Moisture management: the cheap fix that works on any soil

More of Texas

Every county in Texas is on this site, including Polk County, TX and Glasscock County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.